Buenos Familia y amigos!
Como estan?
It certainly has been a interesting and different week. Like never before. For Starters, Sister Chavous is not sitting next to me. She is in Hollywood (Florida) and has been since Friday Morning.
Let me back up. Thursday morning, sister Lira got a phone call from the Assistants telling her she was going with Sister Escobores in less than 24 hours (because Sister Lavoie went home 5 days early because of her visa). She cried. We all cried.
Thursday evening, the Assistants call us and tell us Sister Chavous is going with Sister Escobores for a 4-day exchange. Then Sister Lira calls me and says we are going to be companions during that time!
So in all the confusion and tears and frustrations, Sister Chavous got picked up by the Assistants Friday morning and I haven't seen her since. I have to take Sister Lira to transfers and pick up Sister Chavous there because we are still companions for the next 5 weeks!
(yes this transfer is only 5 because . . . I don't know). Sister Hancock and Sister Syme are still in our apartment (Sister Hancock is "dying" this transfer!)
So yeah, Sister Lira got to experience the joys of driving a ton and teaching very little, as well as hearing and watching all of the drama in the YSA ward. And there is a lot lately.
But since I have 2 minutes left, here is what I wrote to President:
We had an incredible experience on Sunday. After having to give a talk unexpectedly in Sacrament Meeting, my sore throat was getting worse, and both of us were pretty sad after no one came to church. Again. Our possible appointments had fallen through, so we spent the evening harvesting. We found an apartment complex and got to work. We weren’t really excited about harvesting, but were doing it to be obedient. The first door we knocked on was Alanna. She wasn’t too excited to see us, but as we introduced ourselves, she gratefully accepted a prayer. After the blessing, we invited her to be baptized and she said, “I’ve been thinking about baptism a lot” and noted several times that we were sent from God. She also said she wanted her daughter to be baptized now that she is older and can learn and make the decision for herself. She asked if we could teach her, too! She told us her schedule and is very open and willing for us to come back! She is getting baptized on Sept. 30th!
I was super surprised because I haven’t had a lot of success harvesting on Sunday, but the very next door was a YSA! His name is Jose and he immediately invited us in, but since he was alone, we couldn’t go in. He had us talk to him through the open window while he
finished his cooking. We blessed him and tried to help him recognize the Spirit. He asked a lot of questions about how we could say “I know” when we’ve never seen God, and we were able to teach and testify of the Spirit and of the Church. We had a great discussion with him and he invited us to join in a “Dinner of Religions” he wants to have to show Tolerance and Friendship. He is really cool and we’re excited to teach him the Plan of Salvation and the Restoration!
We harvested in the complex until 8:45 and still needed two more blessings to reach our goal. Not knowing where to go or what to do, we looked around and saw a window with a light on and a family visible inside. We knew immediately that we needed to go there. We knocked on the door and the father let us in. He was ready for a lesson! We blessed the parents and invited them to be baptized. Although they didn’t accept, they did ask about the Book of Mormon and we were able to again teach and testify. They invited us to return and explain more about the Book as soon as possible!
As we were driving back to our apartment, I remembered the scripture I wrote on our white board last week: Alma 26:27. It seemed to be speaking exactly of our evening since we were feeling depressed and wanted to go home, but went forth and the Lord blessed us with
success!
I’m not sure why our area is not doing as well as it has done in the past, but we will continue improving our diligence, faith, and obedience and expect the miracles to happen eventually.
I love you all and hope you all can find a way to be more faithful and diligent also!
Love, Hermana Sheffield
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